If you are attending one of our hospitals for a routine clinical visit, you may also be approached to give consent to donate samples to the Northern Care Alliance Research Collection (NCARC), an ethically approved designated research tissue and data biobank.

Giving consent to NCARC is completely optional.

The use of a standardised NCARC consent form and donor information sheet  allows:

• Access to any surplus clinical tissue collected in the past or any time in the future
• Access to minimally invasive extra samples (i.e. blood) with permission
• Access to all retrospective and future clinical data
• Potential inclusion of donors with impaired capacity
• Potential to collect for ‘fresh tissue’ research

If you decline consent, this will not impact your treatment and there is also a consent withdrawal process which is detailed in the NCARC participant information sheet for those who change their minds at a later date.

If you are a participant and would like to speak to us in person, or have any further questions please contact us by emailing NCARC@nca.nhs.uk, and provide us with a phone number/email so we can respond.